Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-04-01
saw from the ghastly color 81 the
man s face that he was seriouslY iii.

he showed marked symptoms OF th,
! yellow fever, which is often prevalent
in Pernambuco. j Immediately re
ported the case to the captain
and the mat5, who ridiculed my
fears, declaring that s'the lazy MIG
ger was only Sinking duty, and thai
the taste OF ropes end would soOr
bring him round" They both wen,
for ard and in few moments, TO my
anger and disgust, I. saw the unfortu
nate Maly dragged up the companion
way BY these two brutes, and order
81 aloft to assist the men who were
bending q new foretopsail. IventureC
to demonstrate with the captain, but
was roughly told to ''hold my
Jaw" F., ? -
Seeing that should only prejudice
the cause Of the unfortunate man BY
my advocacy. I said no more, but re-
solved to make it as light for him as
could while he was ON watch, He
managed to 60 on duty for the next
two days, being assisted by kind.
hearted shipmates, but on the third
being overcome by the intense heat,
dropped exhausted upon the deck.
Convinced at last of the genuineness
OF the mans illness, the captain had
him carried below, where a close. OK.
animation revealed beyond a doubt
that he was dangerously i'll OF the vel.
low fever. He soon became delirious
and his rawlings were most horrible
to listen to. He remained in this con.
dition during the rest of the trip.
When we were within "a hours sail
OF Bermuda was summoned to the
captains room, where / found the
rest Of the officers assembled. The
captain then informed us that, in his
haste, he had neglected to take
out our health papers at Per-
nambuco, and that consequently
we should not be allowed to land at
Bermuda in the usual way. He nro-
posed that we should clay of and on"
near portion of the island that he
knew to be thinly settled, where we
should probably be able to purchase
our vegetables from the farmers and
take them aboard in the whale boats
before the government authorities
We're aware OF our presence. I then
ventured to suggest that we had man
aboard who was dying ofyellow fever,
and that it would be necessary for hui
manity's sake to get him into the hos
pital. The captain, with a somewhat
sinister look, shortly informed me that
the case would be provided for, and
the conference broke up. On the Goth
day of May we sighted the lighthouse
tower OF Bermuda, and the wind be-
ing fair and strong were soon
lying within easy distance of the
shore. The captain gave orders
that the mates boat be- got ready for
lowering, and prepared to go ashore
to arrange for the purchase OF our
stores. As I was going below at eight
bells, l saw the mate walk r'ard and
descend into the forecastle. Suspect.
ing that something was up. I deter
mined to remained ON deck. After a
while I saw q couple of the foremost
hands lift a small sea chest on deck
and 60 below again; in a short time
they again appeared, bearing between
them the sick Malay. The poor
watch was indeed g. pitiable object as
he was borne aft between the two
men. His thin, hot hands clutched
wildly in the air, and his rolling
eyeballs seemed to appeal for
mercy as they glanced from
one to another of the crew. stepped
up to him, and as tenderly as l could
helped to place him in the mates boat;
his chest(a light one enough, poor fell
low, was placed beside him, and in a.
few moments the boat was manned,
and, with the captain and the mate in
the stern, set out for the beach.
At about d in the afternoon the
boat came alongside again, and the
captain informed me that satisfactory
arrangements had been made with a
dealer in provisions on the island and
that the boats were to be cleared Of
their whaling gear at once in order to
get our supplies under cover of
darkness. Wind and sea were in
our favor, and by 8 in the morning
the vegetables were safe under
the matches and the boats swinging on
the davits again. In the hurry and
hustle consequent upon the work
in hand I had forgotten to
inquire as to the fate of the unhappy
Malay. A little close questioning of
one of the mates crew convinced me
that our inhuman captain had con-
veyed the poor wretch to an unfre-
quented part of the island, and left
him there without food or drink to
die a death OF untold agony.
All that day we bowled along under
the stiff nor'west breeze, with every
sail set and drawing, and Bermuda
was far astern when I came on deck to
stand the early night watch. The
wind was still fair, but somewhat
lighter than during the day. The
glass was falling somewhat, but
not rapidly enough to warrant
us in shortening sail. It
was very dark night, and the sough
of the water along the side of tho ship
as she rushed along under the press of
her bellying canvas. made a mournful
to the solemn BOOM
ing of the wind through the rigging.
The men were scattered IN groups of
two or three about the deck, talking
in undertones, and occasionally glaDc-
ing at the weather, which had begun
to look q trifle threatening. l was
lying upon the carpenter's bench think
ing over the events OF the day, when J.
noticed q faint fash of lightning far
out ahead of the vessel. The wind
astern had been dying gradually, and,
aware OF the squally tendency of
the weather in those iatitudes, I
mounted the rigging and stepped into
the larboard boat to take good OBJ
servation Of the horizon or'ard.
Soon there was q bright flash OF light
ngthen another-and finally the
sky ahead was almost q continuous
blaze oflight. Apprehensive OF anap-
preaching squall and knowing that to
be taken aback by one with q full
spread OF canvas on the vessel meant
destruction, ! FASTENED below to CON